Greg and Eliott finally say “yes” tonight in “Here everything begins” on TF1. Before his departure from the series, Mikaël Mittelstadt comes back for us on the highlights of this exceptional episode and on the shooting of the wedding sequences.
That’s it: D-Day has finally arrived in Here it all begins. After weeks of preparation – and months of waiting on the fans’ side – the long-awaited wedding of Greg (Mikaël Mittelstadt) and Eliott (Nicolas Anselmo) is finally celebrated with great fanfare this Friday July 14 at 6:30 p.m. on TF1. At the same time as that of Hortense and Mehdi, double marriage obliges.
After having confided, in the first part of our interview, on the way in which this last intrigue was orchestrated which marks his departure from the series, as well as that of Nicolas Anselmo, Mikaël Mittelstadt returns here for us on the episode of marriage itself. On its unexpected and surprising moments, and on the sometimes chaotic filming, due to capricious weather, of these exceptional sequences which will be a landmark in the history of Here it all begins.
Without forgetting to reveal to us which ark he preferred since the beginning of the adventure three years ago, and to tell us a word about his future projects.
AlloCiné: How was the filming of the wedding sequences in the episode of Here it all begins tonight? Was it very emotional?
Mikael Mittelstadt : We were not helped by the weather, because it was 30 degrees at 2 p.m., full sun, then at 2:08 p.m. there was a deluge, at 2:27 p.m. the sky was covered with clouds. In terms of connection and continuity, it was not easy. There are quite a few scenes that we had to relocate because of the weather. When we live these kind of moments we say to ourselves “It’s great, we’ll have a lot to talk about later, especially in an interview” (laughs).
But obviously, afterwards, it’s full of emotion because this event that everyone has been talking about for so long finally materializes. For me, this marriage was obvious. After a year I told Nicolas “You’ll see, this story will end in marriage”. The emotion was very strong. But what’s cool is that it wasn’t our last day of shooting. We had a few more days afterwards, fortunately, because otherwise we would have all sunk into melancholy and sadness (laughs).
So you didn’t finish filming this ark at all with the last scene of the wedding episode, which depicts Greg and Eliott’s farewell to Lionel, Jasmine, Mehdi and Hortense?
No, we shot that scene a week or ten days before the wedding. It finally happened very quickly in the filming of this arch. This is the magic of television. Our last sequence for Nicolas and me was the reconciliation in the marshes. A very nice scene too. In general, the production makes an effort and makes us end with somewhat symbolic scenes. Last year, in November, I finished with the farewell speech in the kitchen. It was very strong too.
Fabien MALOT / ITC / TF1
Greg wears a kilt for his wedding. Was it your idea?
No not at all. If you want to know everything, I was shooting another series, The Serpent Queen, in Martigues, when the costume designer of Here everything begins calls me and says “We’re going to need you for costume trials”. And I didn’t understand, I answered him “But I only left six months ago, do you really need new costumes?”. And she tells me “But in fact we have to take measures for your kilt”.
So it was she who taught me because I had received the texts a week before but I hadn’t had time to read them because I was filming. So I pretended to know what she was talking about (laughs). “But of course, the kilt. I look at my arrangements and I’m coming”. And indeed, afterwards I looked at the scenario and there was indeed a kilt for the wedding.
One scene in particular will not fail to amuse the fans of Here it all begins: it is the moment when Greg kisses Lionel, during the ceremony. Was this moment written in the script, or did you improvise it with Lucien Belves ?
It was written. When I read the scripts, after learning that I was wearing a kilt, I was also surprised by the fact that Greg was kissing Lionel. So I immediately sent a message to Lucien who answered me by voice.
I had sent it quite late, around 1 o’clock in the morning, I was returning from filming. And he answered me the next day, around 7 o’clock, telling me “It’s not possible, it’s much too early to send me this kind of message” (laughs). But with Lucien we are friends, we played it and we did it while having fun. It was written in the script, it wasn’t improv at all.
Fabien MALOT / ITC / TF1
What is your favorite plot in all of these three years of Here it all begins?
I really loved last year’s summer arch. The National Pastry Championship. Maybe because it was the lightest in emotion (laughs). It was an investigation, and we were outside the context of school too, lessons, in a new setting. It marked a huge breath in me. Even if the shooting conditions were torrid, unbreathable because of the heat, I have wonderful memories of it. We had a lot of fun on this arch.
Now that the Here it all begins page is turning, what are your projects?
I recently shot season 2 of The Serpent Queen, to which I made a modest contribution. I don’t know when it will be broadcast but I know it’s for Canal+ Series. Season 2 takes place 12 years after the first one and I take on the role of a young boy who was in season 1, who was an apprentice of one of the main characters. He will find himself at the heart of the intrigue of the conflict between Catholics and Protestants at that time, at the wedding of Henri IV. Another marriage (laughs).
And for the rest, I pass castings, and I target a little more what I want to do. And then it’s a matter of timing and luck.